Component feeding is a well-known process in Surface Mounting Technology (SMT). In general, a feeder is used to sequentially supply surface mountable electrical components to a pick up location for subsequent placing, by a pick-and-place machine, onto a Printed Circuit Board (PCB) which is pre-printed with solder paste.
One form of feeder is a tape and reel feeder in which the electrical components are packaged on a tape that is wound onto a reel. The tape comprises individual pockets each containing one of the electrical components that are individually sealed in the pockets by a covering of thin film. In use, the film is removed when the tape enters the pick up location therefore leaving a pocket containing one of the electrical components in a position accessible by the pick-and-place machine. Unfortunately, the tape is substantially wider than the components located in the pockets thereby increasing the width of the feeder. Further, the tape can jam which may take unnecessary time to clear and the flexibility of such feeders in not always adequate for accommodating rapid machine reconfiguration.
Hopper feeders also known as bulk or tube feeders are an alternative to tape and reel feeders. Hopper feeders usually comprise a hopper in communication, along a passage, with a pick up location. To provide propulsion of the components to the pick up location a combination of gravity and air blasting is generally used. However, the components can sometimes get jammed in the passage causing unnecessarily long machine downtime periods whilst the jam is being cleared. Further, such hopper feeders may not readily be replaced with different sized feeders accommodating different sizes and types of components, without causing undesirable delays in machine downtime.